Elder Ronald A. Rasband: A Life of Service

Elder Ronald A. Rasband said of his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “It was the Lord’s decision and . . . I needed to understand that and have it confirmed to me.”

Elder Ronald A. Rasband was sustained on October 3, 2015, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. According to an article published by Mormon Newsroom, “Elder Ronald A. Rasband: Prepared for a lifetime of service,” Elder Rasband said of his call: “I had a spiritual impression that there’s nothing about this that was politically motivated, nothing about it that was an election, nothing about it that was a vote, nothing about it was my desire. It was the Lord’s decision and . . . I needed to understand that and have it confirmed to me just like President Monson told me. And Sister Rasband and I received that [witness] in our first prayer.”

Elder Rasband was born in 1951 and grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received a mission call at the age of 19 to serve in the Eastern States Mission. In 1973, he married Melanie Twitchell, and they have five children and 24 grandchildren. He is a successful businessman and became president of Huntsman Chemical Corporation in 1987. After serving as a bishop and mission president, he was called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in 2000, as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy in 2005, and as the Senior President of the Presidency of the Seventy in 2009.

In his 2014 general conference address before being called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Rasband spoke of “The Joyful Burden of Discipleship.” At that time, he said that sustaining Church leaders means more than simply raising our hands; it means magnifying our callings, serving those around us, and showing charity to all we come in contact with.

As we remember those words from Elder Rasband’s 2014 talk, we are reminded of our responsibilities as members of the Church in sustaining him as one of the newest members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.